Came across this advertisement in my favorite food magazine this month. It's a part of a series of ads that have been running for quite some time now. It's sponsored by Traveloregon.com. Since it's a food magazine the other ads have featured Oregon winemakers, cheesemakers, farmers, and other food-oriented professionals. The skier caught me a little off guard. Then I saw the boots and started making my own connections.
Though it's not stated in the text I like the idea of linking the ancient traditions together. In this case the customs and practices that define a particular group of people. Whether it's winemaking, cheesemaking, or skiing--and more specifically and importantly Telemark skiing--the daily activities and expressions that Oregonians (we're told) engage themselves in act, in effect, to define them. In folkloric terms, this is called a worldview: "the manner in which a culture sees and expresses its relation to the world around it" (Barre Toelken).
Now, perhaps I'm reading way too much into a fairly simple series of advertisements but since the ads have tapped into pretty much everything that I hold near and dear to my heart (save for the always terrific Portland music scene), I'm sold!
My only criticism with the series is that it's fairly northwestern Oregon-centric and I'm more partial to the wide-open spaces, sagebrush, and Ponderosa pine of the eastern side. At any rate, well done Oregon!
A bit of an absence. Yes. The end of the semester turned into family visits that turned into friend visits that turned into the holidays. Oh, the holidays. I tend to disappear during the holiday season. But I'm doggy-paddling my way back and ready to start anew. So grab some Champagne and dig in.
And to welcome me back here is a tasty little treat: LCD Soundsystem's All My Friends. Song of the year? Yes. Song of the last two decades? Quite possibly. It, too, might make you feel like disappearing.
LCD Soundsystem: All My Friends.mp3
You like? You buy. Support the troops!
LCD Soundsystem at Amazon, Insound,& the website.
